Christmas Carol
by MirrorFlower and DarkWind
Summary: McCoy doesnt want to go the Christmas pary and indeed hates Christmas all together. So three ghosts visit him. Is that enough to change his mind or will he forever be the Scrooge of the Enterprise.


**T'Slash: **Well I have found that after NaNoWriMo it's harder then ever to keep my original characters, aka Kaly, out of stories. I hope this will be one of the last ones that has her as one of the main characters for a while but I can't control what comes to my mind sadly. I do hope that you all enjoy it though, it came to me when I was reading all the other awesome Star Trek Christmas stories out there…will probably have Spirk in it…I can't help myself.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own, this is just good FINALS ARE FINALLY OVER fun.

_**Christmas Carol**_

"I don't see why we have to celebrate Christmas here! We are on a goddamn flying death trap!" McCoy grumbled to a grinning Jim. "It's not like we are even close to Earth!"

"You know you are starting to sound like Spock," Jim laughed, ducking out of the way as McCoy pulled out a hypo. "But you know even he is coming to the party tomorrow. Don't be such a scrooge Bones. I know there is one lady who would love for you to make an appearance."

"I am nothing like that green blooded hobgoblin," McCoy growled, picking up his whisky bottle, pulling it away from Jim. Ignoring the second part of Jim's speech.

"Sure you aren't," Jim continued to laugh, holding his still half filled glass. "But seriously Bones you should come. There will be alcohol and friends, not even you can be a Scrooge during a party. Get in the Christmas spirit Bones!"

"No," McCoy said simply, glaring at his friend. "Go talk to you boyfriend about the party and leave me the hell alone."

"Fine," Jim said, knowing that this year like all others wouldn't change. Bones would still lock himself in his room and be the scrooge just as he was every year since he met him. "Just think about coming Bones. You shouldn't let the past disrupt your future. But if you want to be the scrooge I wont stop you and hell who knows maybe you will be visited by the three ghosts!"

"Your drunk, go to bed Jim," McCoy dismissed him, putting the liquor away as he watched Jim stumble away, a grin on his face as he met up with Spock right outside the doorway. McCoy snorted as he saw the way that Spock looked at Jim. That damn green blooded bastard tried to convince McCoy he had no emotions…yeah fucking right.

McCoy got ready for bed, thinking about what Jim had said before he left with Spock. As if he would be visited by three ghosts. That was just an ancient Earth fairytale made up to teach children to get into the spirit and make fun of grumpy men who hate Christmas. See it as a waste of time…they could be using their time so much better and besides it wasn't like they could leave the ship. What was the point of it if they had to continue working and were so far away from their family? Time could be better spent flying this flying death trap and keeping them alive.

"Visit by the three ghosts," Bones snorted, rolling his eyes as he fell into bed. The day catching up to him as he drifted off to sleep.

"Wakey wakey Bonesy!" a high pitched voice yelled right by his ear, laughing when he jumped up eyes popping open to survey the room, looking for the intruder. His eyes landed on a small girl, her hair long and a dark blue color while her eyes were a bright red. A white dress covering her ending right above her ankles. "About time! I have been trying to wake you up for hours!"

"Who the hell are you? How did you get onto the ship?" McCoy asked, glaring down at the girl, mentally cursing her for waking him up.

"I am Kaly, the ghost of Christmas Past," she said, smiling evilly when his jaw dropped. "As for why I am here…well Jim did warn you that you would be visited by three ghosts and I was graciously accepted to do the job!"

"This has to be a dream, Kaly isn't a child…she's an adult. Not very mature but then again she was Jim's childhood friend," McCoy said, rolling over and closing his eyes. Hoping that if he ignored her she would just go away.

"Oh no you don't! I didn't wake you up just to have you ignore me! We have places to go and things to see so get up!" she yelled, pushing him out of the bed, smiling innocently as he turned and glared at her some more. "It's your own fault for being such a grouch! If you just appreciated Christmas then I wouldn't be here! Now take my hand…trust me I won't leave you alone till you do."

McCoy grumbled but took Kaly's hand in his own. Fighting down nausea as the world around them both blended together. Kaly laughed; obviously delighted in the experience as she griped his hand tighter, pulling him to follower her down the path and a bright light greeted them.

McCoy looked around, his eyes widening. This was his old house…when he was still married to his ex-wife form hell. The small version of Kaly smiled gently, nothing like the one he knew now, and pulled him towards the window, gesturing for him to look though.

"They can't see you but you should already know that," little Kaly said, pushing him closer to the window.

McCoy looked into the room. There he was, smiling as his girl; his little Joanna sat there a big smile on her face as she looked over at all of the presents. He looked towards his younger self a smile on his face and an old fashion version of a Santa Clause hat resting on top of his head.

"Look at you…you were so happy back then. You loved Christmas…I can understand why you would hate it now. Being away from your daughter but you can't let that or your evil bitch of an ex-wife take away your Christmas spirit," little Kaly said, shocking McCoy as she cursed. She just rolled her eyes, pointing back into the window. "Listen."

_"Daddy! Look at everything that Santa brought me! I knew that Dan was lying to me when he said that Santa doesn't exist!" Joanna said happily, climbing onto her fathers lap. _

_ "Don't forget, Jo-Jo, Christmas isn't just about presents it's about family and friends as well. As long as you have family and friends with you on that day then you should celebrate it," he told his daughter, laughing as she pulled his hat down over his eyes. _

_ "I know all that Daddy! I'm not a baby! I'm five!"_

_ "Getting older and older each day! Soon you'll catch up with me!"_

"I remember…this was just before my ex-wife filed for a divorce…taking everything away from me," McCoy said sadly, looking in on the scene. Wishing he could go back to that moment in time.

"She didn't take everything last I check you still have your heart and soul. And your daughter. You still have her no matter how much that bitch wants to keep you apart. Just cause you can't see her all the time doesn't mean you should lose faith in Christmas. You taught her what Christmas was. What it meant. You need to remember that now," Kaly said wisely, putting her hand out once again. "Come on we have to go. You still have two more visitors tonight!"

"Do we have to travel back the way we came," McCoy asked, dreading the answer.

"Oh yess, what fun is it if we don't?" she asked, laughing as she took his hand, sending them back into the vortex, dumping McCoy back onto his bed before disappearing.

"That didn't just happen…had to be a dream," McCoy muttered to himself, remembering the image of his daughter sitting on his lap. "Just me pulling up a memory of how everything use to be…nothing more." With that McCoy fell back to sleep.

"Leonard! Oh wake up I really rather not kick you out of bed again like Christmas Past!" a familiar voiced yelled at him. He opened his eyes and saw Kallista Knightly standing besides him, her long hair left to hang down. She was in her Santa outfit, her hat tipping to the side, almost covering one eye.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he asked yawning, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"I'm Christmas Present! I know that Christmas Past told you I was coming. And no to answer your thoughts it wasn't a dream…she was really here like I am now," Kaly said, sitting down besides him on the bed. "Its not, to steal the phase, as illogical as you think. Happens to quite a few people you just never hear about this."

"How do I know this isn't just a prank you and Jim are trying to pull on me together," McCoy asked suspiciously.

"That would be a step too far even for us! Well now get up we have somewhere to go to now!" Kaly said, jumping to her feet, grinning. Her hand held out to McCoy. "Come on we really don't have all night to do this. There is still one ghost left that has to visit you!"

"Why me again?"

"Cause you have zero Christmas spirit, Leonard," Kaly laughed, pulling on his arm. "Now come on, the scene wont come to us you know!" She led him out of the door and into the hallway, pulling him towards the turbolift.

"Where the hell are we going? And why aren't we using that weird travel thing like mini you did?" McCoy asked, speeding up so he wouldn't be dragged around.

"We aren't going that far. Christmas Present, Hello!" she said, waving her hand in his face, laughing. "I do warn you…you might not like what you see but I got no control over that."

"Dear gods you aren't taking me to Jim and the hobgoblins room are you? Do you know what they are doing?" McCoy asked, horrified, pulling his arm out of her grip. Looking up at her like she was crazy.

"Oh Lord," Kaly laughed, holding her sides as tears fell from her eyes. "We aren't going to them but that would be a kick! So much blackmail I am betting!"

"Shut up," McCoy said, blushing slightly as she continued to laugh at him.

"Never," she said, straightening up again, brushing the tears away. "Now come on! We are nearly there." With that she took his arm in her hands again, pulling him down the hallway, smiling as she stopped outside a door. "Here we are!"

"Where is here exactly," McCoy asked, feeling like he should know the place but it wouldn't come to him. He could have sworn he had been in this room.

"Kaly's room of course!" she said happily, pushing him into the room, laughing as they past though the doors without them ever opening. It was in this instant that McCoy was happy that no one could hear them…this Kaly would have woken up half the ship by now!

"Why are we here?"

"You think your unwillingness to celebrate Christmas doesn't affect anyone. Well your wrong…it affects her," Kaly whispered, pointing towards the other Kaly, the real one. She was sitting on her bed, the cloths she has picked out for the party laid out around her. A single tear fell from her eyes, following the tear marks already on her face.

"Wha…why is she crying? Kaly never cries if she can help it," McCoy said, taking a step forward, reaching out only to have his hand go straight through her.

"She is crying cause she wanted to see you at the party. She was going to dress the best just for you…she likes you, Leonard. Has for some time now just doesn't know how to show it."

"So me not coming…."

"Ruins her Christmas wish. Jim knew that wish that's why he was trying to hard to make you come. When he told her you wouldn't…well she broke down. She was going to tell you she liked you at the party….or trap you under the mistletoe. Whatever comes first."

"Why hasn't she told me before?" McCoy asked puzzled, looking down at the woman.

"Nerves. No matter how she acts she can still be nervous. Not just the evil mastermind that she is, she does have a heart. One deeply buried but still there."

McCoy continued to look down at the young woman. It was true he thought she was evil. Always having a prank up her sleeve…no one safe from her. She was always so strong…so strong willed. He would never have thought that she liked him that way…he was just a grumpy man…a scrooge.

"So if I went…" he said, trailing off as he looked at the girl…she had fallen asleep the tears still on her face.

"You would make her Christmas wish come true," the ghost Kaly said, smiling as she reached down, covering her real self. "The choice is only up to you. Now come on we have to go…nothing left to see and you still have one more ghost left."

"Fine," McCoy said, following her out of the room. Thinking over everything that she and the one before her had said. He knew he shouldn't have let his ex-wife kill his Christmas spirit but he couldn't help it…she had taken everything and now….now he couldn't even enjoy the season. Couldn't even help his friends.

"Here we go…I will leave you alone to your thinking," this Kaly said, smiling sadly down at him before disappearing, leaving him alone in his room once again.

McCoy sat there in the dark; letting everything he learned wash over him. He knows that he shouldn't be this way…but he was…even seeing Kaly cry couldn't stop him from hating the holiday. Hating everything it represented…everything that was taken from him.

"Well isn't this room just a ray of sunshine," a familiar voice said. He looked up, unsurprised to see another version of Kaly standing before him. This one as young as the previous one but with a devil's outfit on. The horns sticking up fully as her devils tail twitched back and forth.

"Let me guess you are Christmas Future?" he asked, standing up once again.

"Yes or as I liked to call myself, Christmas Final Kick in the Ass," she said, smiling brightly. "I know what my other parts have shown you…and yet I still don't see you changing. So…we all know what I am here for why the hell am I doing this speech? Just give me your hand."

"Let's get this over with so I can sleep," McCoy said, walking over and taking her hand in his own.

The room around them vortexed just as it had done with the child Kaly. The Devil Kaly smiled as she pulled him though the vortex, leading him towards what he knew could only be the future.

"Don't ask how far we are…I'm not saying," Kaly said before McCoy could ask. McCoy nodded before looking over the scene. He was in sickbay it appeared and it was Christmas once again…only this time he wasn't alone. There was a man strapped to the bed.

"Who the hell is that?" McCoy asked, sure he had never seen the man before.

"Oh just an evil mastermind that tried to kill Jim recently. You know same old same old," Devil Kaly said, laughing as she looked down at the tan man, his brown hair longer then normal. "Safe to say he didn't get a chance with Spock there. As you no doubt can tell its Christmas again…since you aren't going to the party you decided to stay here and watch the prisoner."

"Well better me then someone else," McCoy said, seeing nothing wrong with the scene. The man was safely strapped onto the biobed. What could possibly happen here that would change his mind.

"So you say," she said, eyes sad as she looked at the scene. "Just watch." So they watched…everything seemed normal for the first few minutes. The Future McCoy was just running tests, looking over at his patient/prisoner. Nothing seemed to be out of order until McCoy leaned forward, taking a closer look. The man moved suddenly, pulling out a scalpel he had hidden on his person and slit the future McCoy across the throat before breaking his bindings.

"How the hell did he do that?" McCoy asked, looking down, face paling as his future self bled out…no one around to help him.

"Never underestimate K-this man. He can be deadly," Devil Kaly said, waving her hand so the scene changed towards his funeral. Jim was giving a speech…his eyes filled with unshed tears as Spock stood behind him, silent but supportive. The whole bridge crew stood around his coffin, tears in their eyes but what stood out to him the most was Kaly, standing in the background. Full blown tears falling from her face as she cried, body shaking with the force of her sobs.

"Kaly," McCoy whispered, his heart breaking at the sight of her.

"She never gave up hope you know. That one day you would come to the Christmas party…that one day she would get the courage to admit her feelings for you. She held on so still your death hut her," Devil Kaly said, smiling sadly as she looked at her counterpart. "Here she regrets not telling you, not dragging you to the party. She blames herself for your death."

"It's not her fault…someone would have died if I went to the party. Better me then anyone else," McCoy said, looking away from his funeral.

"Wrong, Bones. In fact without you here…alive, Jim will die shortly the new doctor unable to save him. With his death comes Spock's own, unwilling to live without his bondmate. Then the rest of the crew follows after," she said, shrugging. "Kaly's death…is by far the worst of them all maybe."

"No…how can I change the future," McCoy asked, desperate to save his friends. No his families life.

"Go to that party. Let Kaly tell you her feeling for you. Either accept them or don't its up to you. but… if you do tell her you don't like her…ask to still be friends. That you still care for her that way," Devil Kaly said. "If you do all that…when that man comes onto the ship then. Well then she will be by your side and able to stop you from dying. If that happens well then…everything else follows. A ripple effect."

"This… this would all happen just cause I…didn't go to the party," McCoy asks himself, looking back to all the devastation it would cause.

"Yup," Devil Kaly said before taking his hand again, dropping him back into his quarters. "The decision is all yours, Doctor. The question is what path will you take." With that she was gone, leaving McCoy to his thoughts once again.

McCoy sat in the darkness, thinking over everything he had learned. The fact that Kallista, Kaly liked him. That she wanted to be with him was shocking enough…but the fact that if he didn't go...didn't start to believe in the Christmas spirit once again he would cause all his friends deaths.

_ "Do what feels right. The Christmas spirit will come to you…just let it," _the words his little Joanna said echoed in his head from the last time they had talked together. He smiled into the dark. His path was clear. He never had given up on Christmas…never truly lost his Christmas spirit. Just buried it deep inside himself.

He jumped to his feet, finally letting the Christmas spirit envelop him. The thing he had been fighting for six years. He opened up his closet, digging though it for his elf costumes…one he bought just to make his daughter laugh so long ago. Telling him he wasn't fat enough to play Santa. He smiled as he put it on…he was ready to celebrate again…ready to do something he should have been during so long ago. He had almost let himself forget the feeling of.

As he ran down the hall towards the party he thought about Kaly. He still didn't know what to do with her. The fact that she cared about him…was still shocking but he couldn't deny that he liked her as well. And yet…he still didn't know what to do. He looked over at the rec room doors, readying himself for Jim, who would no doubt tease him about his outfit. Wasn't his fault it was the only thing he owned that was Christmas related.

"Come on Leonard, you can do this," he whispered to himself before waking within range of the sensors. The doors sliding open, revealing all the Christmas joy going on inside. He took a step in, his eyes scanning the crowd, landing on the blue haired girl in the back, sitting by herself as she watched couples dance around, having a great time. Sadness evident in her eyes…something she couldn't ever get rid of. Or hide.

In that moment McCoy made his decision. He marched over to her, ignoring Jim's surprised voice as he called out to him. He kept going, ignoring everyone till he reached her side, pulling out a spring of mistletoe he had grabbed from the table.

"I think this means we have to kiss now," he droned, his southern accent more pronounced as he looked down at the broken girl. She gasped looking up, eyes filled with hope.

"Leonard?" she asked, unbelieving.

He nodded before using his free hand to grab her, pulling her up into his arms as he leaned down and kissed her. Kaly froze for a moment, eyes wide before they drifted shut and she returned the kiss.

"About damn time," Jim shouted, the crew agreeing as they looked on at the couple.

"Indeed, T'hy'la," Spock said, his eyes smiling as he saw the two separate, Kaly bombarding the Doctor with questions.

"He wont get out of that one unscratched," Jim laughed, happy to see his friend…happy. It had been a long time since he had seen his friend this happy. Jim watched as Terry and Aki smirked at each other, snapping a picture of McCoy's outfit. No doubt for blackmail later on.

"I thought you weren't going to show up?" Kaly said, hands on her hips but a smile on her face.

"I had a change of heart let's just say," McCoy said, smiling down at his girl. His arm snaking out to wrap around her waist, pulling her closer. "With the help of… a few friends."

"Well…I'm glad to hear it cause not I don't have to hunt you down to give you your present," Kaly said, smiling as she slipped out of McCoy's arms, walking behind the Christmas tree. She stayed there for a time before coming back…her hands empty. "You ready for your present?"

"You didn't have to get me anything," he said, the bell on his hat jingling as he looked down at her.

"Then it's a good thing I didn't," she said, stepping aside to reveal a teenage girl, her hair the same color as McCoy's.

"Merry Christmas, Dad. Glad to see you got your spirit back," Joanna said, smiling up at her dad.

"Joanna?" McCoy breathed, eyes widening slightly as he looked down at his girl. She nodded and before he knew it she was in his arms. "Joanna…I've missed you, honey."

"Me too, Dad," she said, pulling away to smile up at him. "Oh and Dad. I approve of Kaly."

"Glad to hear it, Jo," he said, looking up to the smiling face of Kaly. Her arms crossed over her chest as she watched the scene.

"Merry Christmas," she said, ruby eyes sparkling in happiness.

"Merry Christmas, Kaly," he said, pulling her into the family hug. "I'm glad I got back into the spirit…just in time."

"So are we," Joanna and Kaly said, hugging him once again before laughing as they pulled him into the party.

**T'Slash: **This took me three days to write! I keep getting distracted and my Star Trek movie marathon didn't help either. But I did it! I still got a Christmas present to write…but I will finish that in 3 days…I hope. Also I will try and update Bonds Binding tomorrow or Tuesday depends how long it takes me to type up the next chapter…and come up with it! Well I hope you all enjoyed this little story! Please remember to review.


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